*** Official January 2020 Thread ***

[ArielSRL]

We have a quick trip over MLK weekend. Officially on property Jan 18-Jan 20 at CBR, though we are driving down partially on Jan 17.

 

[YawningDodo]

Feel like I'm finally hitting the home stretch--I've got a staycation scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving, and that Monday I get to kick things off by booking my FP! I've made a much more detailed schedule for this trip than I've ever done in the past and it's making me both excited and nervous--but if I start feeling too locked down I know can always cancel the ADRs and wipe the slate mostly clean. This solo trip is basically about doing all the kinds of upcharge stuff I always feel too awkward asking family or friends to pay to go in on--so I'm doing the Wild Africa Trek, an AK AH, building both a droid and a lightsaber, eating table service on at least half the days...gonna just indulge all to heck.

 

[JonathonW]

Feel like I'm finally hitting the home stretch--I've got a staycation scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving, and that Monday I get to kick things off by booking my FP! I've made a much more detailed schedule for this trip than I've ever done in the past and it's making me both excited and nervous--but if I start feeling too locked down I know can always cancel the ADRs and wipe the slate mostly clean. This solo trip is basically about doing all the kinds of upcharge stuff I always feel too awkward asking family or friends to pay to go in on--so I'm doing the Wild Africa Trek, an AK AH, building both a droid and a lightsaber, eating table service on at least half the days...gonna just indulge all to heck.

If you've never done it before, do the Behind the Seeds tour at The Land-- cheap, easy to book even day-of (actually, probably easiest to book day-of), and absolutely fascinating. Takes about an hour (IIRC) and goes into a lot more depth about everything in the greenhouses that you breeze past on the boat ride.

[edited: fixed name of tour]

 

[YawningDodo]

If you've never done it before, do the Beyond the Seeds tour at The Land-- cheap, easy to book even day-of (actually, probably easiest to book day-of), and absolutely fascinating. Takes about an hour (IIRC) and goes into a lot more depth about everything in the greenhouses that you breeze past on the boat ride.

I'll put it on my day-of options list! I've tried to keep enough wiggle room in my schedule to do some things spontaneously, and I'm compiling a list of ideas so if I ever feel like I'm at a loose end I can zero in on something really interesting and new. I've heard good things about Behind the Seeds, though plants aren't really my area--like my mother, I have a black thumb.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Guess I need to bite the bullet and get my tickets. Fast pass day is quickly approaching and I’ve been holding off hoping for them to extend the Mid Day Magic tickets.

I just bought mine yesterday! FP window opens Sunday.

 

[ariane37]

Fastpasses on Monday! Have the beginning of our trip all set as we'll be with friends most of the time but not sure what we're doing our last 2 days for parks. I know I'm looking forward to breakfast at Topolinos and dinner at our fave signature Citricos and also decided to return to Il Mulino with friends joining us this time there too

 

[bluecastle]

Just got a TP notification that MK (11 pm) and AK (9 pm) extended park hours during part of my trip! Got on MDE and immediately snagged a FP for FoP on the 3rd! Now I have 2 FPs for FoP in a 5 day trip!! (1/2-7)

 

[mamamelody2]

Was finally able to get the upgraded MBs we wanted. Pirates for DS and Small World for me. Yay!

I'm close to having our itinerary set. FP days is next week Tuesday. I have to take my kids to school at 7:25 then go to work right after that, so I will have to be completely ready to go at 7 then get my most important FPs (FoP, SDD, 7DMT) and fill in the rest later. It's already stressing me out a bit. LOL.

Still need a ticket for DS. Waiting until DH gets his new Chase Ink Business Preferred card so that cost can contribute to the minimum spend to get the 80000 bonus points. I am not at all a "big" credit card churner, but from reading the "I love credit cards so much" thread on the budget board here, we have been able to use points for our last 3 trips plus this January one. And we still have 135,000 points before the 80,000 bonus! Those points should get us airfare and lodging on the trip we hope to take to California in 2021.

 

[ariane37]

Did well with FP's this morning, added a TS breakfast and got rid of a TS lunch. Just need to book our tour now and decide which MB I want! I have a few of the upgraded ones already but lost my SE one on EE last month so may get a replacement SE band

 

[Jelkat]

Did fps this morning, all 12 days for 4 people. Got all I wanted except fop on our first day is very late in day. We have a pre Park bfast at tusker House so need to decide to keep or switch. Coming from Ireland the jet lag will be setting in then and not sure how kids would cope. Very happy overall. Just hoping space restaurant and morning magic in hs opens to make the cherry on top, I can wish

 

[YawningDodo]

So guess who had stopped checking the MK AH thread, assuming they wouldn't add any more January dates? And guess who just got to book an MK AH right in the middle of her trip?

Is it bad that I'm kind of excited about the fact that now I have to go through and rebuild the schedule I just ruined by doing that?

 

[Sara_H]

Fastpass day was Tuesday and I was able to get everything we wanted with the exception of SDD (which was not a surprise as our HS day is early in the trip). And now we just sit and wait...and wait...and wait... At least we have Thanksgiving and Christmas to distract us a little. I really wish Space 220 would be open by then and that there wasn't so much construction, but that's what happens when you go in January to avoid the mass crowds and heat. We will still have a great time I'm sure!

 

[maranara]

Our FP day is Tuesday...trying to get everything figured out this weekend. For those of you who have recently booked your FPs...were you able to book FPs for Primieval Whirl or Kali River Rapids? They're both on my daughter's list, but I know that Kali is often down for refurb in January and there are reports that Primieval Whirl is seasonal. Trying to manage her expectations...thanks!

 

[Jperiod]

Our FP+ selection is this monday. I have to get up at 5 AM!! I still haven't figured out what park we want to go to all the days. I was reading along and don't know some of the acronyms -- what's AH at magic kingdom? Anyone care to share their park days for Jan 25-Feb 2 and why? This is what I'm thinking, we're kinda meh about EP and MK, which is why I only have 1 day def planned for each.
1/25 (sat) ep
1/26 (sun) MK
1/27 (mon) HS (break?)
1/28 (tues) HS
1/29 (wed) AK
1/30 (thu) MK or HS (break?)
1/31 (fri) AK
2/1 (sat) HS
2/2 (sun) MK or EP (leave for home)

 

[JonathonW]

Our FP day is Tuesday...trying to get everything figured out this weekend. For those of you who have recently booked your FPs...were you able to book FPs for Primieval Whirl or Kali River Rapids? They're both on my daughter's list, but I know that Kali is often down for refurb in January and there are reports that Primieval Whirl is seasonal. Trying to manage her expectations...thanks!

Per Touring Plans, Kali and Primeval Whirl are both blocked out for FastPasses in late January: https://touringplans.com/animal-kingdom/fastpass-availability/date/2020-01-27

No official closure announced for either yet, but the FP+ unavailability seems like a strong indication that they'll be closed once the Christmas/New Years rush is over.

(Can't personally verify this, though; my FastPass day also isn't until Tuesday.)

 

[NikkiDP]

Our FP+ selection is this monday. I have to get up at 5 AM!! I still haven't figured out what park we want to go to all the days. I was reading along and don't know some of the acronyms -- what's AH at magic kingdom? Anyone care to share their park days for Jan 25-Feb 2 and why? This is what I'm thinking, we're kinda meh about EP and MK, which is why I only have 1 day def planned for each.
1/25 (sat) ep
1/26 (sun) MK
1/27 (mon) HS (break?)
1/28 (tues) HS
1/29 (wed) AK
1/30 (thu) MK or HS (break?)
1/31 (fri) AK
2/1 (sat) HS
2/2 (sun) MK or EP (leave for home)

AH stands for After Hours. It is an extra ticketed event at MK that allows you into the park for three hours after closing.

 

[maranara]

Per Touring Plans, Kali and Primeval Whirl are both blocked out for FastPasses in late January: https://touringplans.com/animal-kingdom/fastpass-availability/date/2020-01-27

No official closure announced for either yet, but the FP+ unavailability seems like a strong indication that they'll be closed once the Christmas/New Years rush is over.

(Can't personally verify this, though; my FastPass day also isn't until Tuesday.)

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. I have no idea how to book our AK FPs now...we'll obviously try for FoP and safari...but then what? My daughter wants nothing to do with Everest or Dinosaur or Tough to be a Bug. Maybe Lion King? I don't want to book Rivers of Light in the hopes of maybe snagging an extra FP earlier in the day...

 

[Sara_H]

Had a minor heart attack this morning! Went into the app so I could write all my fastpasses down and when I went to try and modify one, they were all showing that only 1 out of the 4 of us had a FP! I checked my screenshots from Tuesday and that showed that all 4 of us had them. Went online and that showed that all 4 of us had them...then went back into the app and it showed all 4 of us having them. Why on earth does the app do that stuff??? You'd think that with the amount of money Disney brings in, that their IT department could keep a website and app up and running without this kind of stuff happening!

 

[YawningDodo]

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. I have no idea how to book our AK FPs now...we'll obviously try for FoP and safari...but then what? My daughter wants nothing to do with Everest or Dinosaur or Tough to be a Bug. Maybe Lion King? I don't want to book Rivers of Light in the hopes of maybe snagging an extra FP earlier in the day...

One option would be to just book the two you want and wait until you're in the park to book the third, but then you won't be able to book another tier 1 until after you've booked and used that third FP+. Alternatively, you could follow the strategy some folks use at DHS: book a tier 2 FP+ you know you won't use for as early in the morning as you can get it and just let it drop off your account while you're off doing other things. That way as soon as you use bot the FoP and Safari FP+ you can immediately book another tier 1 if you want to.

 

[Naomeri]

Did my FP+ this morning and had good luck. Booked Navi River for arrival day evening (I land at 11AM, so plenty of time to get settled before heading over to AK). Snagged a Soarin’ for right after my IFOA workshop on Saturday morning, and booked a couple throwaway FP+ to run during my workshop so I can try for a day-of for FEA. Got an SDD for Sunday, but it’s not until the evening, so I’m going to try to modify it. My full AK day lined up perfectly: Safari, FoP, and EE, all right in a row in the morning. I didn’t waste any FP+ on MK because I’ve got the MK DAH. I might try for 4 parks in 1 day on Wednesday, because I’m starting and ending at MK, with no plans in between and it sounds like a fun challenge. Thursday is departure day but I can spend most of it in a park because my flight is at 9PM, so I grabbed a 10AM ToT, which I’ve never done before. I’m super excited and I want it to be January now!!